Super Saiyan Brothers
by Y2Jen
Summary: Bad name, bad sum. Sequel to Bring Me To Life, two old friends return to Trunks's life and not too long afterwards, Joey and one of the brothers start to act very strangely, disaperaing and getting into trouble. But whose behind all of this, and why.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _So this the sequel the Bring Me To Life that I wrote with my brother and our friend (he was the one who wanted to call it this) and while I came up with Joey, my brother came up with the villian of the trillogy who you'll meet named Tsukage, and our friend came up with the characters for this story, Squall and Sepiroth. Yes, he's a FF fan. So read, enjoy, and this time if you review you will get points for cookies, mmm, fresh chocolate chip right outta the oven... not mine of course, so you know they don't suck._

It's May, about six months after the final incidents of Bring Me To Life. Since then, Joey and Trunks have seen each other on a lighter note, getting used to each other's company and accepting the fact that, like it or not, they were half brothers. Trunks had just turned 16 last month, he and Joey being about three years of age apart. It's the late morning of the first week of the month, the sun is just fully over the horizon at about ten am. Capsule Corp. shines brightly among the trees and city streets as the family gets started with their day. Rock music is heard coming from Joey's room, he's inside playing his guitar and singing one of his bands favorite hit songs, "I'll be there for you!" His room looked just like his back at home in the desert, all of his things had been moved but Joey had inherited his old house from Yamcha's name and left it abandoned to return to it later once he's grown and out on his own. But he's happy here in his new Capsule Corp. home with his adoptive family. He was always alone, and now he's not. Trunks came into the bedroom as Joey sings the final chorus. "America is like apple pie and by miss…." He looks up. "Hey, what the hell are you doing in here?" Joey demands angrily, noticing Trunks in the doorway grinning at him, he growls and tries not to be embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I haven't been here long enough to see you make a fool of yourself. And trust me, that isn't too long." Trunks laughed. Joey just scowls as he pouts, blushing slightly. Trunks goes into his room and looks around before focusing his eyes back on his older stepbrother. "You know, you really are pretty good. The lyrics may be a little strange at times, heh, but it sounds like not even laryngitis can keep you down."

"Hey, shut up." Joey smirks smugly up at Trunks, referring to prior to as of late.

Joey had long since recovered from the illness he'd received while training with Vegeta in the forest. The fever only lasted about a week, but a few months later the real sickness hit him and he's just healed from the long, nasty cold a few days ago. He was sick for four times in the last three months, it was really bad. Now he's just at the tail end with an occasional sneeze or lingering cough. Luckily for him Bulma was his mother, well, though I should've probably said unluckily. She can be one of those crazy doctors.

"Oh Trunks, there you are." Vegeta pushes the door open as he enters.

"Hey dad." Trunks looks up as Vegeta turns on the light in the dark bedroom.

"Joey, hi." Bulma appears at the side of her husband.

"Morning mom," Joey smiles up at her and turns to Vegeta with a curt bow. "Dad."

"Good morning." Vegeta nods and turns back to Trunks. Vegeta had taken Joey under his wing after Yamcha's death and had become not only a trainer but a very supportive, and even at times caring, parental father figure in his life. "Come with me for a moment."

"Sure." Trunks gets up off Joey's bed and follows Vegeta out of the room.

"Busted." Joey snickers under his breath and Trunks just shoots him a look.

"So, how are you doing this morning?" Bulma walks over to Joey after the two leave, and sits down next to him, brushing a lock of his now slightly longer hair out of his eyes.

"Fine, mom." Joey moves his guitar case and puts the guitar back in before closing it.

"How's your voice?" Bulma rubs and feels Joey's neck as he puts the case under his bed.

"I said I'm fine mom, my fever has been gone for what, weeks." Joey laughs slightly as Bulma takes her hand off his face.

Bulma smiles, "I'm sorry son, I just can't help worrying over you. Open." Joey opens his mouth wide as Bulma makes one last inspection down his throat. "Alright, it looks good."

"Well look you don't have to anymore mom, I'm a grown up now." He boasted proudly.

"Oh?" Bulma laughs. "And do grown men whine and complain over a little sore throat?"

"Mom!" Joey smirks meekly, then muttered. "You know it was more than that…"

Bulma gives her son a loving grin and can't help laughing, "Okay, okay. You have to learn that a mother can never stop babying her baby, even if that baby is a big grown up baby." She gives him a quick kiss as she stands up to leave the room. "Why don't you clean up this fault line of yours?"

"Mom, this 'fault line' is my room." Joey laughed.

"After you do, you can go out and play." Bulma says in a motherly tone.

"Alright." Joey smiles with a nod as Bulma closes the door behind her. "Let's see now, what work do I have to do?" He stands, putting his hands on his hips, surveying his room. It is pretty messy, in the corner by the laundry basket, his cloths are all thrown this way and that, near rather than in the basket. The computer on his desk is surrounded by clutter and dust. He has a lot of sports and music posters on his wall, some older ones are torn and coming down while most are new so aren't. His dresser has two drawers open with some junk and stuff in one, the other crooked due to a broken hinge and having some clothes hanging out. The lamp on top of the dresser is flashing, the light bulb is bad and needs changing. The closet door is open, inside is a mess of anything and everything. "Hmm." Joey looks around and his eyes fix on something. "Aha." He smiles and walks towards his destination. He notices some trash on the table next to his bed by his alarm clock and the photo given to him by Puar from long ago. It was of Yamcha, Bulma, Puar and Joey when he was still a toddler. He picks up the paper plate with wrappers and throws it in the overflowing trash bin by the door. "There, all done." He smiles proudly as he dusts his hands and looks over his work. "Well, time to have some fun." He rushes towards the door, grabbing his trademark red bandana off the corner of the tilted mirror and runs outside as he puts it on. "Yo Trunks!" He calls and Trunks turns around in the front yard. "What's up?" Joey stops running as he makes his way over closer.

"Oh Joey, you're just in time." Trunks smiles.

"Huh? For what man?"

"I want to introduce you to two friends of mine." Trunks takes a few steps to the side and two teenage boys walked over. "Joey, this is Squall and Sepiroth."

"Hey, how's it going?" Joey nods at the two brothers.

"They're Saiyans like me."

"But I thought you were only a half-Saiyan, Trunks."

"Yea I am, they may be full blooded, but we all can go Super Saiyan." As Trunks spoke, the three of them became Super Saiyans, exploding into a yellow light that Joey had seen many a time before in his training battles with Vegeta.

"Oh wow, that's cool." Joey couldn't help but feel a little weak and a bit envious though.

"But because they're full blooded Saiyans, they can remain in that form for days or even weeks straight, while I have to change back when I get too tired and need to regain my energy." Trunks returned to his normal form, whereas Squall and Sepiroth didn't. "They can stay like that for a month, even in their sleep."

"I bet that comes in handy during a fight. Training while your sleep." Joey whistled.

"Well actually yes, it does." Squall, the 17 year old, stepped up.

"I'm like the strongest fighter there is." Sepiroth, the 24 year old, added with a proud grin

"What about Goku or Vegeta?" Joey's question caused the three Saiyans to laugh. Joey looked around at them confused. "What?"

"Sorry, it's just that, not even fused, Vegeta and Goku couldn't match my power." Sepiroth stopped laughing, rolling his eyes, obviously kidding, but he didn't want to let Joey in on the inside joke.

"Oh, really?" Joey was amazed, somebody that beat Vegeta?

"Hey come on, let it go." Squall elbowed his older brother slightly, just because Joey was the new kid, and a human, didn't mean they had to haze on him that much, just yet that is.

"Here, why don't I tell you a story?" Sepiroth offered.

"Sure." Joey shrugged, eager to hear the story. "Bring on the popcorn and the pops."

"I'm on a diet thanks." Sepiroth smirked and tapped his torso.

"Well while you two ladies yap, Trunks and I are gonna go spar." Squall yawned.

"Later." Trunks gave a slight wave before he flew after his friend.

"So anyway, what happened?" Joey asked, and Sepiroth began his tale, the tale of when they first arrived on earth and met Trunks and the Z-fighters, the tale of the Super Saiyan brothers.


	2. Chapter 2

Decades ago, King Vegeta had ordered Squall and Sepiroth's dad, Bruno, out to a far planet to retrieve Brolly, a young Saiyan who while on a mission had gone out of control. He searched for days after finding the unknown planet, finally Bruno had found Brolly. As soon as the two met face to face, they confronted each other to battle. His father, Paragus, was nowhere to be found, so Brolly was free to do as he pleased, even kill a fellow Saiyan.

"Brolly, you're wild! I have orders from our King Vegeta. You will come with me or I'll have been given permission to kill you." Bruno challenged.

"Never, I am the strongest Saiyan ever! You can't order me around, what do you think you are, my father?" Brolly's raspy growl made Bruno wince. "I make the match!"

Brolly was the only Saiyan to have become super at the time, he was a legend far surpassed all others, but Bruno had Saiyan pride and still accepted. The fought raged on, but just because young Brolly had achieved Super Saiyan status didn't mean he could harness the energy properly to use it to his advantage, Bruno was able to get him into custody, but was badly injured himself. King Vegeta punished Brolly, sending him to disciplinary. Bruno was awarded with courageous honor and gave the general of his elite, new status as high inquisitor (one of the king's closes advisors, complete with their own medal). Later it was found that Brolly had broken out of the room with the help of his mentor and brotherly best friend Siefier, the one who helped Brolly's power explode, the one who turned Brolly against his own father.

A few years later…

King Vegeta was planning an attack on Freeza when he told Bardok to go out and see Bruno and his wife Karen to escape, not wanting them caught in the crossfire of battle, or to interfere. They were sent off and a few days later, Freeza blew up planet Vegeta. Unfortunately for them, their calculations were blown off course when the main tower on Planet Vegeta was destroyed. They were forced to wander the darkness alone, which was unfortunate, for Karen was pregnant.

Fifteen years ago…

Bruno was out training his seven year old son Sepiroth when Siefier found them and attacked. Sepiroth went to help his dad but, try as he might, he wouldn't let him. Siefier was strong and when he was about to kill Bruno, Sepiroth attacked from behind with his blasting zone and knocked out Siefier, allowing for him to escape with his dad. Soon after, Bruno and Karen had their second child, a boy they named Squall. Seven years later, they continued to planet hop to find livable civilization, and that's when the crash landed on earth, when they would meet a boy about the same age as Squall, and he too was a Saiyan, his name was Trunks.

Four years later…

Bruno was out training Squall like he had done with Sepiroth when Siefier found them and attacked once again. This time, rather than go after Bruno, he advanced on Squall, unleashing his hell flare. But Bruno jumped in the way to protect his son and took the blast. He didn't survive the lethal hit and Siefier had once again escaped.

Three years later….

Sepiroth was out camping, doing solo training as Squall stayed at home too look after their mom Karen, and who should find him, but Siefier once more. Rather than fight back, Sepiroth ran, trying to escape. But Siefier didn't have it, he hit Sepiroth with his hell flare, and near death, Sepiroth fell in on the Z-fighters who were training.

"So that's how you all met?" Joey asked, cutting into the story.

"Yes, and thank you for interrupting!"

"Oh, sorry…."

"Yeah, well good, because I lost my train of thought."

"So, if you met them a while ago, where have you been and why didn't you help them when they were fighting and stuff?"

"I'm not a superhero you know, I do have a life outside that. We only really knew Trunks, and he wasn't really too keen on telling Prince Vegeta that he found more Saiyans."

"Oh?" Joey smirked slyly. "And what exactly 'outside live' mean?"

"I…" Sepiroth hesitated, embarrassed. "Have a girlfriend."

"Oh yeah, Sepiroth's getting busy with the ladies." Joey began to root and catcall.

"Alright that's enough." Sepiroth cleared his throat and stopped blushing.

"Okay." Joey reduced his laughing and wiped a tear off his eye. "So, what's her name?"

"Claire." Sepiroth had met her about half a year after meeting the Z-fighters.

"So hey, you didn't tell me about your fight with Goku and Vegeta."

"Oh yeah." Sepiroth continued his story, time to make things a little lest fact and a bit more fiction, just for entertainment purposes only of course.

The Z-fighters found Sepiroth was seriously injured so they took nursed him back to heal with one of the Saiyan revalidation chambers. Vegeta had Bulma make one not too long ago. Within half an hour he was healthy again. As soon as he came to and looked around to get his bearings on where he was, he approached Goku and Vegeta.

"I challenge you two!" He pointed to them both, and they were all shocked yet amused.

"You want to fight them in a handicap match?" Goten was confused.

"But that's my dad." Trunks replied. Since Trunks met Squall already, he knew Sepiroth.

"I know about your fusion technique, use it to try and match my skill." Sepiroth jumped out of the chamber and got in his fighting stance. Everyone gasped in disbelief. He was insane, brave, but insane.

Goku shrugged at Vegeta, "Suit yourself. This won't take long, I know you hate fusing."

As soon as they were fused, the fight began. They lasted a long time, the two seemed to be on par, but Sepiroth pulled out and unleashed his blasting zone upon them. It caused such a force of impact that the fusion wore off and the two exousted Saiyans separated.

"How could you beat us?" Vegeta growled. "He's the strongest Saiyan there is, and I'm the prince of all the Saiyans!"

"Apparently there's one stronger than you, your majesty." Sepiroth laughed slightly. "You may have been a fused Super Saiyan, but you lack what I have."

"Oh, and what's that?" Goku asked.

"You all know the legend of Brolly, well he was the first to turn Super Saiyan, and my dad was the second, achieving such status in a fight. But do you know who the third was?" Sepiroth smirked. "Me."

"What!" Everyone gasped, in shock once again.

"No way, you're younger than my dad!" Gohan cried to the Saiyan about the same age.

"Who said you had to be an adult to become Super Saiyan?" Sepiroth hinted as he looked down at Goten and Trunks.

"Well I refuse to believe that and until I beat you, I will train and make myself stronger in order to be superior to all!" Vegeta stormed off.

"Wow." Sepiroth scratched the back of his head and turned to Trunks. "Do you think I may have hit a rough edge with him?"

"Nah, he gets like this a lot, it'll blow over."

"So did Vegeta ever beat you?" Joey asked after Sepiroth ended his tale.

"No. He did challenge me again after the destruction of Buu. We seemed to match up for most of the fight, but when he seemed to have the upper hand, I unleashed my true energy force and it beat him back down again."

"Wow." Joey was still amazed that this fighter, just a few years older than himself, couldn't only beat Vegeta as a Super Saiyan but also as a fused Super Saiyan with Goku.

"Anyway Joey, why ask me about Vegeta?" Sepiroth snapped Joey out of his thoughts.

"Oh no reason, it's just curious now that he's my trainer now that he's my adoptive dad."

Sepiroth was taken, "Vegeta is your dad!" He paused, maybe it wasn't a good idea to tell him the phony part of the story, it might make Vegeta quite angry.

"No, you see, Bulma is my mom."

"Well who's your biological dad then?"

"Oh, Yamcha…."

"Yamcha?" Sepiroth began to laugh. "You mean that lame drunken stoner tramp?" Sepiroth stopped laughing when he saw Joey's attitude change. "What, what's wrong?"

"Naturally I'd accept such accusations upon my dad, but please don't make fun of him now that he can't defend his own name anymore."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I guess you didn't know then, my dad died not too long ago."

"Oh." Sepiroth was lost for words. "So, did he fail miserably in a fight?"

"No, he had a heart attack."

"Ah." Sepiroth decided it would be best to not say anything else and changed the subject. "So, was Vegeta's training hard?"

"Are you kidding me?" Joey turned back around, laughing. "Hard is an understatement!"

"Oh yeah?" Sepiroth started laughing too. "So how tough are you?"

"He says I'm much stronger than my dad ever was, but I'm still only human though I may be the strongest of them. So I can't even go on par with you, a warrior race alien." Joey sighed, he was still disappointed that he couldn't raise his power level any higher. He preferred not to think about it and be reminded of his failures.

"Well for a full blooded human being, that's not too bad now is it? Your Earth's best!"

"Thanks." Joey began to feel better about himself. "Sorry I called you an alien…"

"No problem." Sepiroth smiled. He began to realize that no matter how much Joey was like Yamcha, he would never really grow up to become him, he had already surpassed it.

"Hey, as long as were swapping stories, maybe I can try and entertain you with one."

"Alright." Sepiroth began to think. "Have you ever competed in a martial arts tournament?"

"Yeah actually, why have you?"

"Nah."

"Well here then, why don't I tell you a story of mine own now. Just don't run off to take a bathroom break, I don't do intermissions."

"Fine…" Sepiroth rolled his eyes mockingly. And so Joey began his own tale.


	3. Chapter 3

Joey was about 10 when he competed in his first martial arts tournament, he had trained long and hard both with his dad and in his solo environment and felt that he was ready for the junior division. He made it past the preliminaries by luck but had a lot of confidence in himself, his prepubescent ego already fully developed. But as they were announcing the first round matches, he met a lovely girl his age.

"Hi." She walked over to him. She had dark brown hair tied in two tails on each side of her face. The girl was cute, a typical flirt, even at her young age.

"Hi." Joey was love struck at this girl. Lucky for him he wasn't like his dad and afraid of girls at his age. But would he strike out like him? "I'm Joey, what's your name?"

"My name's Paris. So are you in the competition?"

"Yeah." Joey flexed arrogantly. "Paris is a nice name, and you're pretty just like the city."

"Oh my." She giggled. "You look so good, I'll bet you'll win."

"Really?" Joey began to laugh, not realizing he was blushing from the comment.

Behind the two, a boy their age stood fuming until he could take no more, "Hey!"

"Huh?" The two turned.

"You leave my girlfriend alone!" He yelled. This boy had short, shaggy black hair and wore a muscle shirt and shorts. He looked much taller and stronger than Joey.

"Aw come on Boxer, we were just talking." Paris insisted to the tough guy.

"So what, you've been messing around with her haven't you!"

"Huh?" Joey was confused.

"Our first match will be Joey and Boxer, please come into the arena now." The announcer's voice was heard.

"Oh no." Joey gulped, he was very nervous, he couldn't even swallow the lump forming in his throat. But perhaps there was no need to worry, Boxer would box it out for him.

"Oh yes." Boxer cracked his knuckles. The two got into the ring. "Now I'll knock some sense into you and then beat it right back out." He pounded his firsts into his hands.

As soon as the bell sounded, Boxer advanced on Joey who tried hard to hold his own but his defense proved nothing against Boxer's attack power. He delivered a sharp, painful blow to Joey's jaw. The punch sent Joey flying and off the platform, he was out cold.

"KO! Boxer is the winner, he moves onto round two!" The announcer cheered.

"Next time you'll know better than to mess with my Paris." Boxer walked off with Paris on his arm. As they left, she turned around and looked back to see Joey unconscious on the floor with his tongue out, his eyes twirling in a daze, and looking like an idiot.

"Wow, sounds like you and your dad both have the same rotten luck when it comes to meeting girls and winning fights." Sepiroth laughed and Joey paused his story. "You didn't even have a chance in that battle, you were out matched."

"Yeah no kidding, that punch was so hard it knocked out one of my baby teeth." Joey said as he tapped his right cheek but then continued on with his story.

Two years later, at the next tournament….

This was the tournament that the Z-fighters competed in but nobody knew Joey and he didn't know that they were there. Two people he also didn't realize were there were Boxer and Paris. Both Boxer and Joey had made it into the qualifying finals round, but Joey was much stronger this time and didn't win in the preliminaries out of luck.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the runt of this years litter." Boxer laughed in a deep voice, he was huge, training hard had obviously paid off for him. "How's the jaw, sucker?"

"I was the runt last time, this time it's your turn." Joey growled, his voice had changed dramatically, he sounded almost like he does now. They were young pre teens, and by this time Joey had started wearing Yamcha's old bandit outfit. "Let's do this!" He posed.

"You're just lucky we're meeting in the first round again." Boxer laughed. "I wouldn't want to face you later on and crush your hopes of winning… oh wait, yes I would!"

"Oh that is it!" Joey roared angrily and got in his fighting stance. "Just bring it on!"

"Good luck out there Joey." He turned around at the soft voice to see Paris. Her hair was cut shorter but that was nothing compared to her matured body, she was gorgeous.

"Thanks Paris." Joey said in a squeaky cracking voice, obviously taken by her again.

This time when the bell sounded, both Joey and Boxer attacked each other head on. They delivered punches and kicks, each blow countered equally by the other. Even Paris was in shock. After about a minute they stopped and jumped back, not at all tired yet. Boxer looked at Joey, he could tell that he had changed and wouldn't be a push over like last time, this was a legitimate fight. Joey made the first attack, he lunged forward and dove down at Boxer with a kick, but Boxer blocked it with his forearms and flipped him back. Joey began to pant and Boxer saw his window of opportunity. He ran forward, delivering a knee to the gut, knocking the wind out of Joey. Not letting him get the upper hand, Boxer grabbed him by the neck and picked him up. Joey gasped, short on breath already from the gut punch, he began to fade. Finally Boxer threw Joey's body down, letting it fall limply on the floor. The announcer counted to three and rang the bell, Joey was out cold. The winner once again was Boxer. As he celebrated, Joey came back to life, coughing and choking for air, gasping and panting with frustration once more.

"Well Joey, I guess once a looser, always a looser, am I right?" Boxer walked off laughing again with Paris on his arm, only this time she didn't look back.

"Wow, so you've never won in the tournaments?" Sepiroth asked.

"Yeah, heh, guess it kinda runs in my family." Joey smirked. Sepiroth smiled back. "Needless to say after that I kinda lost interest in making a fool outta myself."

"Well, at least you put on a show for the peoples money." Sepiroth shrugged and Joey smirked back. "Entertainment man, sports entertainment."

"Hey you guys!" A voice made Joey and Sepiroth turn. It was Trunks, he was returning with Squall. "Are you guys done talking yet or what?"

"Yeah, for now I guess so." Joey nodded over at his new friend.

"Good cause I'm starved." Squall grinned.

"Then let's go get some lunch." Sepiroth suggested and the four ran into Capsule Corp.

The four boys joined Vegeta, Bulma and her parents at the table for lunch together. Joey was playing with Puar with a string from his orange shall while Squall and Trunks made faces at each other. Sepiroth was eating normally as Bulma's parents served themselves. Vegeta and Bulma finished talking and looked up and the lively group at the table.

"Trunks?" Bulma's voice made them all look up. "Your dad and I were talking and if your friends want, they can stay here for a while since they're in town visiting."

"Oh that would be great!" Trunks beamed and turned to Squall and Sepiroth. "So, how about it?"

"Sure why not?" Sepiroth smiled up at Bulma and Vegeta.

"Sounds like fun." Squall grinned over at Trunks.

"Sleep over!" Joey cheered, raising a fist into the air.

"Then it's settled." Vegeta nodded. "After you finish eating you can find a room, any which one you'd like."

"Just not mine." Joey commented.

"Thank you." Sepiroth said with respect. "Well guys, what now?" Sepiroth asked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I dunno, what do you think Squall?" Trunks turned to his friend.

"Well we already sparred, how about you Joey?" Squall looked over at Joey who was still pigging out in a Goku fashion.

"Huh? What?" Joey looked up from licking his plate, food covering his face.

"Ugh, disgusting." Vegeta turned up his nose. "That'll loose your appetite."

"I can eat yours if you don't want it." Joey remarked. Vegeta just groaned.

"He is a growing boy." Bulma replied.

"Which way…" Vegeta frowned.

"You wanna go spar?" Squall repeated the question.

"Sure, why not?" Joey rubbed his mouth with his arm.

"Joey?" Bulma grumbled and he looked over. "What have I told you about table manners?"

"I dunno." Joey shrugged and Bulma rolled her eyes at Yamcha's boy.

"Just leave him be." Vegeta muttered to his frustrated wife.

"Alright. You two go run off and play then." Bulma sighed.

"Yeah!" Joey stood up and ran out the door.

"Mama's boy, child." Trunks muttered under his breath, but Joey didn't hear it that time.

"Hey wait!" Squall stood up and turned back to the table and gave a bow of courtesy to Bulma. "Thank you for a wonderful meal."

"Well, you're welcome Squall." Bulma smiled in awe and Squall ran after Joey. Bulma sighed to herself. "Now why couldn't Joey have manners like that?"

"Maybe you should've taught some to Yamcha while you had the chance." Vegeta joked under his breath and Bulma just cleared her throat loudly, so Vegeta continued eating.

"Well mom, dad, I think Sepiroth and I are gonna relax and watch some TV." Trunks announced.

"That's fine." Bulma stood up and picked up her and Vegeta's plates.

"No, here, let me help you with that." Sepiroth stood up and walked over, helping her clean up the table like the good gentleman that he was.

"Oh why thank you Sepiroth." Bulma was amazed at how polite her guests were. "Such manners!"

"Come on Trunks." Sepiroth called and Trunks ran into the kitchen to help him with the dishes. Bulma sat back down with Vegeta as her parents left the table and sighed.

"Now why couldn't some of Sepiroth have rubbed onto Joey?"

"Ah…" Vegeta lifted a finger, but Puar just shook his head, so he closed his mouth and took a drink to his lips instead. Teenagers…


	4. Chapter 4

Joey and Squall had flown off to a field somewhere between the city and the mountain range to spar. It was a bright day, the mid-afternoon sun hung in the sky behind some clouds as a slight breeze brushed through the long grass.

"So Squall, I take it that you're like around the same age as Trunks and Goten then?" Joey asked as they stood on opposite sides from each other.

"Yeah, the three of us are about the same age." Squall replied as he stretched.

"Then that makes me older than you." Joey crouched down in his pose.

"But that doesn't make you stronger." Squall got in his fighting stance as well.

They stood staring at each other for a moment, the wind picked up, blowing some leaves off a nearby bush. Finally Joey and Squall leaped up into the air and began to fight. Both of them attacked with punches and kicks, so far each blow seemed on par, nobody had gained the upper hand. Joey decided to make the first advance with a combo attack.

"Slice kick!" Joey did his hurricane kick flip in the air but Squall teleported away. "Huh?"

"Hey you!" Squall's voice made Joey turn around and look up. "Looking for me?"

Joey growled and charged over but as he did, Squall decked him in the jaw and then went behind him, delivering a double fist blow to the back, sending Joey hurling into a tree. He hit hard and cried out as he fell, landing back first on the ground. He lay there panting.

"Wow, you're tougher than I thought." He rearranged his jaw.

"Maybe we should've waited for a half an hour after eating. Are you okay?" Squall landed, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah." Joey smirked as he got back up, his legs still a little shaky. His eye twitched, Squall had let his guard down. A Joey mistake. "But will you be after this? Hiya!"

Joey jumped back up into the air, Squall followed his lead, and the match continued. Joey dove forward with a lunging attack and Squall ducked out of the way and double kicked up. Joey cried out as it hit him strait on the chest. He hung there as Squall flew out from under him and flew up, then he shot down and kicked Joey on the back, sending him strait into the ground, face first. Squall hopped onto the ground and walked over.

"Hey, are you alright?" He asked for the second time that match. Joey coughed and lifted his head, shaking off all the dirt. "Come on man, you have to be better than that."

"You think that's my best? Ha!" Joey struggled to his feet. "I haven't even unlocked my potential yet." As he spoke he powered up, unlocking his potential.

"Hmm, you're stronger than your average bear, human." Squall was impressed but then smirked. "But I'm stronger than you average Saiyan." He powered up to his highest level.

"Bring it on." Joey said as he wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth. The two jumped back in the air and restarted their sparing. A red glow began to emanate from Joey as he used one of his special moves. "Wolf Fang Punch!" He punched Squall quickly and repeatedly and when he finished the attack he stopped and gasped, Squall wasn't even phased. "Wow, not even one little mark!" Joey's jaw dropped. He growled.

"Sorry." Squall shrugged but smiled as his hand glowed. He punched Joey and he flew into a rocky hill and fell, his energy level returned to normal as he landed back first on the ground, panting heavily in the dust and defeat. Squall returned to his normal level and floated back down. "Hey old man, I really think we should stop now."

"Yeah, whatever." Joey opened his eyes weakly. "Let's just call it a tie."

"Well, if that's what you want. I had it so totally won."

"Nah, I was letting you win, you're just a kid."

"Yeah, right." Squall smirked to himself, he was the winner and he knew it but he didn't want to hurt Joey's pride…. this time. He never even had a chance. "Come on, do you wanna head back yet?"

"Nah," Joey still lay on the ground and put his hands behind his head. "Let's relax."

"Sure, why not?" Squall did the same as Joey. He let out a relaxed sigh and looked up into the sky. "Nice day huh?"

"Yea. Gohan and I do this all the time…"

The two were quiet for a moment, resting in the tall long grass as they looked up at the light blue sky. Squall began to blink slowly, he was starting to fall asleep. The breeze picked up every so often, brushing the clouds across the sky. A small group of birds flew out of a tree across the field to eat the berries off a big bush nearby. Squall yawned and closed his eyes. Suddenly he heard a hard loud sneeze and snapped opened his eyes.

"Huh?" He looked over at Joey, he was sitting up and rubbing his nose. "What's wrong, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Joey shrugged and cocked his head, twitching his nose. "Hmm, that was odd."

"What was?"

"That sneeze, why would I have done that for nothing?"

"I dunno, maybe you have allergies or something?" Squall threw him a flower.

"No, none." Joey grabbed it, he was just as confused as Squall. He sneezed again.

"Are you cold? Maybe you need a jacket or something."

"Nah, I'm fine, my body is trained to resist the cold and dry heat. Besides, it's 75 out."

Squall raised an eyebrow, "Growing up in a desert?" Joey sneezed again and Squall laughed, "Man that's disgusting, just go blow your nose already."

"Sorry, sorry."

"Maybe we should go home then?" Squall was growing concerned now.

"Yeah why not, we can all watch TV or something." Joey got up with a grin.

"Great, sounds like a plan to me." Squall stood up and they flew off.

They flew back to Capsule Corp. where Bulma was doing housework, her parents were in the lab doing their own thing, Trunks and Sepiroth were talking on the lawn and Vegeta was watching Bulla as she watched and jumped along with one of her little kid's shows.

"Hey guys, we're back." Joey announced as they landed.

"Your turn for TV time now eh? So, how'd it go?" Trunks asked.

"It was a tie." Joey smiled arrogantly.

"You won, didn't you?" Sepiroth whispered to his brother, Squall nodded slightly.

"What do you wanna do now, watch TV?" Trunks looked at Squall.

"That's the plan, come on Joey." Squall said as they started to head into the house.

"Nah that's okay." Joey shrugged. Everyone halted immediately. Joey turning down TV!?

"Wait Joey, what's up with you! You don't wanna watch TV?" Trunks gasped.

"Maybe nothing good is one?" Sepiroth shrugged.

"No such animal." Trunks shook his head with a scoff. "Not with Joey there is."

"I think I'm gonna rest up." Joey replied. "I mean, we did have a pretty hard match." He went inside before the others. The three looked at each other.

"Man, what's with him?" Sepiroth asked and Squall just shrugged.

Joey went into his room and flipped the switch by the door, turning on the ceiling light. He lay down on his bed, putting one hand behind his head as he stared off into space. Puar awoke from his little bed in the middle of the room by the window and flew over.

"Hey Puar."

"Hi Joey! What are you doing in here, why aren't you with Trunks and your friends?"

"I dunno, I just feel tired after training with Squall, I mean he was tough but he wasn't that strong. He didn't even go super yet." Joey looked over at Puar and smiled. He tapped his bed twice. Puar knew to come over at that command. He nudged under Joey's hand and Joey scratched behind his ear. "Cat nap time." Puar cheered at that and cuddled up in the crook of Joey's arm. Joey yawned and closed his eyes, falling asleep.

Later…

"Joey, come on, dinner!" Bulma's voice was heard through the house.

"Yeah hurry up, we're all hungry man!" Squall called from the table.

"Where are you?" Bulla cried from the kitchen. "I'll eat yours if you don't want it!"

"She is a growing boy." Vegeta nodded to himself.

"Hey Joey!" Trunks ran into Joey's room. "Huh?" He saw him asleep with Puar. "Aw."

"Did you find him?" Sepiroth came next to Trunks. The room was dark, the light had been turned off and the outside dusk shone through the window. "Well wake him up."

"Puar?" Trunks whispered as he came up to the bed.

"Hm?" Puar awoke and yawned. "Oh Trunks, what's going on?"

"Come on, it's dinner time." Sepiroth turned on the light in the room.

"Great!" Puar cheered and nudged Joey's side. "Wake up, dinner!" No response.

"Huh?" The three of them looked down at him.

"What's the matter?" Sepiroth looked confused at Joey's tense expression. "Is he having a bad dream or something?"

"I'm not sure." Trunks leaned in closer to hear Joey breathing uneasy, his eyes were closed but seemed restless. Sepiroth came over and looked closely at Joey.

"Uh oh." Sepiroth muttered as he shook his head. Trunks looked up. "Something's wrong with him."

"What?" Trunks groaned. "Aw not again."

"Not again what?"

"He's sick again. He's been sick like five times already!" He was getting really tired of this. If his immune system was this bad, it was no wonder that Yamcha died of the heart virus. "If I have to swab his friggin throat again I swear…"

"Whoa, alright." Sepiroth was very shocked at that. "Well, what's with him?"

"I'm not sure." Trunks looked up at his older friend. "Can you tell?"

"I'll try." Sepiroth sat down on Joey's bed. Puar watched as Sepiroth put the back of his hand against Joey's face and neck, then put his ear against Joey's chest. "That's odd."

"What?" Trunks asked.

"It doesn't really seem like he's sick at all and yet he is."

"What? You're not making any sense. Is he sick or not?"

"I dunno. I know, it's weird." Sepiroth stood up and put his hands on his hips, thinking. "Maybe he's just exousted from the match or something, I dunno." He shrugged.

"Well, what do we do now?" Trunks got up.

"We should let him rest, maybe it's a phase, and hopefully it'll just blow over." They walked out of the room.

"Just tell them that Joey wasn't hungry or that you wanted to let him sleep." Puar called.

"Don't worry cat, we'll cover for him." Sepiroth assured and closed the door behind him.

"Aw Joey." Puar looked down at his master before floating off to get some dinner. "What in the world could be wrong with you this time?"

Inside Joey's head…

"It's time."

"Time…? Time for what?" Joey's voice asked the oddly familiar voice in the darkness. He couldn't focus, his mind was racing and his vision blurred, he recognized it somehow.

"Trunks has hogged Bulma for long enough. Vegeta never should've married her and had him or Bulla. Yamcha had her first, you deserve her. She left you, for them."

"But we're family now, friends, I have nothing against them. The past is put behind me and I've made amends and understanding."

"You did, well you used to hold a grudge and you don't realize that you still do crave some revenge. I understand your pain. Remember that vengeance can be sweet."

"Huh?" Joey stood confused. "But I got the bandits, and I like Trunks now, what can you possibly…" There was a flash. All of a sudden, a pain surged through his body. "Ah!" He closed his eyes and then opened them again, they flashed red before returning to normal. He wore an angry face, growling as the evil voice laughed quietly to itself.

"It is time."


	5. Chapter 5

That night as everyone slept, Joey still lay in bed with Puar asleep by his side. Puar and Joey hadn't cat napped in a long time, but Joey was still asleep since then so it concerned his pet cat. Capsule Corp. is dark, it's the middle of the night, but somebody is awake and walking around. He steps over towards Joey's room and opens the door, a crack of dim light spilling across Joey's struggling face. The person closes the door and walks in the room, turning on a light. He sits down on the bed, still looking at Joey. It's Squall. He stares down, unblinking, and his eyes quickly flash red in the shimmer of light outside in the street. He puts a hand on Joey's head and closes his eyes, he's going into his mind, into his dream.

"Joey I understand you, both of us have had our mom's taken away." The voice was talking to Joey again as he stared up into the dark. Squall appeared in the blackness next to him and followed his gaze upwards. "Ah Squall, it seems that you've finally made it."

"Yes." Squall mumbled in a daze, monotone voice. He was under a spell, following the same trance as Joey's.

"Excellent." The voice laughed, it had overtaken both of their minds, taking control of their will and powering their thoughts and actions, it was easy to enter a subconscious as they slept and dreamed. "Then we are ready and shall move on according to plan?"

"Yes." They both nodded in unison, their voices sounding almost similar in possession.

"Good. Now carry out your duty as discussed."

The voice disappeared and the darkness flashed. Squall opened his eyes, he was back in Joey's room. He looked down at him, he was no longer struggling with a tense faced expression, he looked normal in his sleep, the voice had left his nightmare. He opened his eyes and sat up, Squall and Joey looked at each other. They walked out of the room and went off. Later that night, Trunks was walking to the bathroom to get a drink of water when he passed Joey's room and noticed the door was open. He looked in and gasped, dropping the glass in shock, it was empty.

"Oh my gosh, he's gone!" He looked around the house and came to Squall's room. "He's not here either!" The two were nowhere to be found, he was scared. "Where are they?"

The next morning…

"Sepiroth, will you go ask your brother what he wants for breakfast." Bulma said as she worked in the kitchen.

"Okay." Sepiroth went to his Squall's room. "Hey Squall, you hungry?"

"No." He grumbled quietly, not even looking over his shoulder.

"Huh?" Sepiroth was confused, he went into the room. "Rough night there bro?"

"What do you want?" Squall snapped, whirling around angrily.

"Whoa, whoa!" Sepiroth held up his hands. "What's up with you this morning? Bad mood eh? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Giving him a leer, Squall didn't answer, he just got up and walked past his brother out of the room. Sepiroth opened his mouth to speak but instead followed him. He'd led him to Joey's room. Sepiroth rolled his eyes, maybe puberty had a second wind and was making him moody or something.

"Hey you guys." Puar greeted, he was already awake.

"Hi Puar, why don't you go get ready for breakfast?" Sepiroth smiled.

"Okay, I sure am hungry." Puar flew out of the room. Squall continued in the room and stood next to the bed, looking down at Joey.

"Oh, I get it." Sepiroth said. "You're worried about him aren't you? Don't worry, he'll recover, you just beat him too hard." Squall just looked at him and turned back to Joey.

"Sepiroth!" Trunks called from another room.

"Yeah, coming!" He turned back to Squall. "Look if you don't want anything, fine, but leave Joey alone so he can finish resting." Sepiroth headed towards the door. He began to leave but coughing and gagging sounds made him whirl around. "What? Hey!" Squall had his hand gripped tightly around Joey's neck, he was choking him.

"Wake up!" He growled quietly, strangling harder. Joey gurgled and wheezed for breath.

"No Squall, stop it, you'll crush his throat!" Sepiroth yelled but before he could pull Squall away, Joey's eyes snapped open and took one big gasp of air. "Joey." He sat up. "My gosh, are you okay?" Joey just looked over at him. "Man, what's with you two?" Sepiroth was confused.

"Leave him alone Sepiroth." Squall leered at his big brother.

"But, uh…."

"Guys hurry up." Trunks came over to the room and saw Joey awake. "Hey you're okay! How are you doing?" Joey didn't reply. Trunks' face grew angry and he turned to Squall. "Where were you two last night? What's going on here?"

"Huh?" Sepiroth looked over confused, then turned back to Squall and Joey. "What's going on here Trunks, what do you know about this?"

"What's the matter, can't you talk?" Trunks taunted and Joey glared at him.

"Hey leave the kid alone, Squall just squished his larynx." Sepiroth came to Joey's defense. "Maybe he's lost his voice again." Joey's expression grew angry and he shoved Sepiroth forward, causing him to fall. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Leave me alone." Joey growled. Sepiroth and Trunks looked at him confused.

"Come on." Squall said. Joey turned to him and followed him out of the room.

Sepiroth got up and looked at Trunks, "Does he always act like this when he's under the weather?"

The two went into the kitchen where Joey and Squall had gone off to. Everyone was already eating but they looked up when Squall entered the dining room with Joey.

"Oh Joey, you're okay!" Bulma cried out with relief. "I was so worried that you'd gotten sick again. With a fever like that I'd be more worried if something wasn't wrong!"

"Huh? Fever?" Joey asked himself, confused. Then he sighed and looked away. "Alright, I get the point." He turned to the refrigerator. "Water, I need water." He opened it but found none, so he went to the sink and grabbed a cup.

"Your throat is sore too? Oh!" Bulma gasped and rushed over to him.

"You're going too far!" Joey snapped back loudly at her.

Bulma stopped, "Huh what? Are you alright Joey?"

"I'll be right back." He turned to Squall.

"What are you saying? In the condition that you're in! You're staying here mister."

"No, I gotta go."

"Joey no, Joey please, you have to stay in bed. Listen to your voice, poor thing."

"Shut up!" Joey growled then lowered his tone. "For the last time, I'm fine…"

"No Joey, oh, you're becoming a delinquent." Bulma went over and hugged him.

"Get off me." Joey growled quickly and Bulma looked at him, she could tell there was something not right, there was something about his eyes, and the way he spoke to her. Joey stepped back growling strangely and stood next to Squall.

"What's going on here you two?" Vegeta demanded.

"None of your business, old man." Joey sneered and Vegeta fumed.

"That tone…!"

"Come on Joey, let's blow this joint." Squall turned to him.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Joey smirked and they headed towards the door.

"Hey!" Vegeta roared as he stood up, the table rattling from his pounding fists of anger. "If you walk out of this house young man, you're grounded!"

"Ha, you can't do anything to me." Joey turned around slyly, Vegeta hesitated "I'm not a child, you're not even my dad." He chuckled to himself and they flew off. Vegeta growled angrily.

"Man, what's up with your brothers?" Bulma turned to Trunks and Sepiroth.

"I don't know." Trunks sighed.

Joey flew off in the air with Squall, thinking, 'Just wait, I'll be right there.'

It wasn't like Squall to act up like that and Joey must really be sick cause even though he has a rough edge, he's never that shrewd. He hadn't been that rude since they first met. Squall didn't return until later that day, it was a little past noon and everyone had just finished lunch.

"Where have you been?" Sepiroth asked strictly to his little brother, pouting.

"Yeah, and where's Joey?" Trunks looked around.

"Joey huh. So you wanna know where he is?" Squall smiled up at them.

"Yes." Trunks nodded.

"Don't worry, he's fine, and he'll be back soon. He's just out taking care of a little unfinished business first." Squall smirked back and the two looked at him confused. "In the desert." Trunks tensed, that couldn't be good.


	6. Chapter 6

Squall led Trunks and Sepiroth into the diablo desert and to a club. Trunks realized that this must have been the place where Joey and his band of friends always hung out until the gang of bandits attacked Yamcha. Inside the club, there was music. Joey's band was playing a tune for the customers. Everyone had long since returned due to the fact that the desert bandits hadn't even shown their faces since Joey got rid of them. One of the customers wore a dark grayish-tan trench coat and fishing hat. He also wore black sunglasses and a silvery pendant hung around his neck and rested against his red collared shirt. As the band finished playing the melody and the audience clapped. The person set down his beer and stood up, backing his chair from the table as he watched and walked.

"Thank you, thank you." Brian, the new lead singer, approached the mic, his bass guitar hanging on his shoulder straps. "And now I…." He was cut off when the person in the trench coat leaped up and swooped onto the stage in one long, majestic bound, taking the microphone and its post into hand, causing everyone to gasp and pissing the shocked Brian off, "Hey, you can't be on stage. This is for professional acts only."

"Yeah, it's not karaoke night." The drummer, Vince, stood up. They all froze as the person looked over his shoulder and lowered his glasses in a slow and sinister motion, his eyes gleamed at them as he looked over his shades.

"Joey!" They all gasped and shivered slightly, recognizing him and seeing up close how different even more so he was now. He chuckled slightly and they grew humiliated, they just hadn't recognized him in his new wardrobe and build, regretting neglecting him.

"Hey man, how are you?" Mike asked, letting his electric guitar rest against his chest.

"Ha, you wouldn't know now would you?" Joey smirked, turning angrily at them.

"Listen Joey, we're all real sorry…" Brian began, feeling nervous on the spot.

"So how's it feel to be the lead man now?" Joey interrupted, Brian hesitated, his voice was dark and quiet, he wasn't the happy easy going Joey anymore, he was cold and upset. "You all could give a hoot about me now. Oh Joey's gone, let's forget that third wheel and move on and make the band better without him. Ha, looks like your little plan backfired, because from what I've heard, I take it now that you guys quite suck."

"What are you talking about? It's not like that at all." Mike insisted shakily.

"Yeah, we wanted you back but we thought you died." Vince didn't want to admit that they saw him attack the gang and had grown reluctant towards his friendship. "Nobody could ever replace you, but we had to move on and try to keep going with our hobby. We knew you Joey, we knew that no matter what, you would've wanted the show to go on."

"Yeah you think what you don't know. I outa hit you upside the head with an acoustic!"

Joey threw off his hat and doped his sunglasses at Mike's remark. Everyone tensed as they saw him. He looked so powerful now that he was buffed up, but they could tell by looking in his eyes that he was really the same Joey they'd once known, his eyes read of a story similar to Vegeta's, they looked just like his. His band began to feel awful at themselves, they realized that Joey wasn't bad as they thought after seeing him, he hadn't gone to the bad element after getting revenge on his dad, their abandoning him had. They hadn't realized that he was attacking them under a spell, the real Joey, the new Joey, would never take revenge on his own friends and band mates, even if they had hurt him.

"Look man, I…." Brian began to speak up again, stuttering and stammering.

"Shut up! It's time that I do the talking. And you'd better back me up, if you know what I mean." Joey growled and the band gulped, understanding what he meant, and began to play a beat to one of the songs they all knew and had practiced together all the time.

Joey let his trench coat fall off him as he pulled the mic off its stand. His red shirt outlined his physique and everyone in audience took attention to him. He looked around at the band angrily and then at the crowd who looked up at him quietly, confused but eagerly awaiting his song. The band all shot one last glance at each other. Squall, Sepiroth and Trunks arrived just in time as Joey began to sing.

**Fat Lip** _by Sum 41_

Strolling to the party like my name is El Nino  
While I'm hanging out drinking in the back of an El Camino  
As a kid was a skid and no one knew me by name  
Trashed my own house party cause nobody came

Well I know I'm not the one you thought you knew back in high school  
Never going, never showing up when we had to  
It's the attention that we crave  
Don't tell us to behave  
I'm sick of always hearing act your age

I don't wanna waste my time  
Become another casualty of society  
I'll never fall in line  
Become another victim of your conformity  
Back down

Because you don't know us at all  
We laugh when old people fall  
But what would you expect with a conscious so small  
Heavy metal and mullets, it's how we were raised  
Maiden and Priest were the gods that we praised

Cause we like having fun at other people's expense  
And cutting people down is just a minor offense  
And it's none of your concern  
I guess we'll never learn  
I'm tired of being told to wait my turn

I don't wanna waste my time  
Become another casualty of society  
I'll never fall in line  
Become another victim of your conformity  
Back down

Don't count on me to let you know when  
Don't count on me I'll do it again  
Don't count on me it's the point you're missing  
Don't count on me cause I'm not listening

Well I'm a no good-nick lower middle class brat  
Back packed and I don't give a shit about nothing  
You'll be standing on the corner talking all that kufufin  
But you don't make any sense with all the gas you'll be huffing  
Cause if the eggs don't stain you'll be ringing off the hook  
You're on the list wanted in the telephone book  
I like songs with distortion  
Drinking in proportion  
The doctor said my mom should've had an abortion

I don't wanna waste my time  
Become another casualty of society  
I'll never fall in line  
Become another victim of your conformity  
Back down  
Waste my time with a casualty of society  
Waste my time with a victim of your conformity  
Back down

The room was quiet for a moment when the band stopped playing after Joey finished singing, he dropped the mic and it hit the floor in a loud thud. He turned around to give them an angry look but before he could do anything brash, the room full of customers stood up on their feet and applauded, cheering loudly.

"Hu, wha…?" Joey whirled around, confused and taken by surprise.

"They liked it." Trunks jaw dropped, he was shocked. Squall just scowled behind them.

"Wow, well I mean he was good." Sepiroth just stared admitting in amazement.

"Damn Joey, it looks like you still got it in ya, you haven't missed a beat." Brian laughed, patting him on the back. Joey was too shocked, he just turned around slowly, still confused at what just happened, stunned yet taking the standing ovation in.

"Man that was awesome!" Mike rooted, raising his fists into the air. "We had you pegged all wrong!"

"Yeah, we haven't sounded that good since we last had you with us." Vince agreed.

"Huh?" Joey looked at them strangely. Squall growled to himself, something was wrong.

"See Joey, we have nothing against you and we never have. Can't we just put the past behind us and get back together for old times sake?" Brian asked, Joey stared at him.

"Yeah man, we really, really miss you." Mike nodded. "And not just in the band…"

"Yeah, as a friend too." Vince grinned. "So what do you say?"

"Wha…?" Joey's eyes began to shake, he felt like he wanted to cry. He looked at them and wanted to go back so badly, he missed them too, but he was told to exact his vengeance upon them, yet they were begins so nice and forgiving to him, and the crowd was loving him. He just didn't get it, he did not understand at all. "Ugh…" He whimpered and held his head, he shook it and then looked back up, blinking stupidly. Squall tensed, Joey had snapped out of the entities control. Joey looked up to see his band just staring at him a bit confused. He looked around. "Where am I, what's going on?"

"Joey, are you okay?" The bartender asked, growing a little concerned. "Need aspirin?"

"I uh…" Joey began but his eyes rolled in the back of his head and he passed out. Everyone gasped as Squall flew over and grabbed him before he fell over on the ground.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Trunks demanded but Squall flew past them.

"Come on, we'd better follow." Sepiroth nodded and they chased after him. The club was silent, some looking around confused and others just staring off in pondering.

"Whoa, flying dude…!" The bartender gawked as he dropped his pitcher of beer. He glanced at the beer and sniffed it. Was this all real or just part of some strange new show?

"Huh? What just went on here?" Vince turned to Mike after a few seconds.

"I dunno." He shrugged, they looked over at Brian who stepped forward.

"Oh, Joey…" He sighed sadly as he watched them go. What was he in for this time?


	7. Chapter 7

Squall had flown home with Joey after the bar incident, Trunks and Sepiroth in tow. He was going to run off so Joey could be restored with the evil essence but his controller didn't want to reveal his identity and position to Trunks and Sepiroth so he decided to let Joey off until he fully recovered and returned to normal so no one would be suspicious.

"What happened to him this time?" Vegeta groaned, he was getting really tired of Joey disappearing and coming back hurt or sick. He was starting to become a handful, he was past the worth of his keep and Vegeta was regretting ever unlocking the teen's potential. He was legal now, perhaps it was time for this 'grown up' to get out.

"I dunno, he'd gone back to the club and met with his friends. They did a song and he just passed out." Trunks explained, not fully sure what happened himself.

"Oh dear." Bulma sighed as she stared down at her unconscious son. "What ever am I going to do with him?"

"Darn you woman!" Vegeta growled and Bulma turned to him in shock. "Well, if you would stop babying him like you always do maybe he could do what you and I had originally intended and grow up!"

"But, do you think something might really be wrong with him?" Bulma grew fearful.

"I don't know, you're the smart medical one around here." He admitted quietly.

"Squall, do you know anything about what happened?" Sepiroth asked his brother.

"No." He shook his head.

"And are you telling the truth?" Sepiroth cocked an eyebrow in suspect.

"Yes." Squall nodded.

"Okay then." Sepiroth turned back to the situation. "Well I don't know what might be wrong with him, but rather than waste taking him to a hospital, why not just quarantine him in your sickbay recovery lab until he recovers? You can monitor him there."

"That's a great idea." Bulma realized and they took him to the infirmary. They put him in a bed as Bulma hooked him up to machines. "He might be out for a few days." Bulma said as she took the thermometer out of his mouth. "But this is really weird, he doesn't show any signs of being sick at all, his fever isn't even at 100." She read one read out. "At least his throat is fine, it's almost like he's faking, or hibernating or something."

"Well try this then." Sepiroth yelled in Joey's ear. "WAKE UP!"

"Hey…" Trunks grumbled, but of course Joey hadn't responded.

"And what else is odd is, his normal resting heart rate is 60 but on here it shows it as 75, so something's wrong. Is he under some kind of subconscious stress? What's going on here?" Bulma sighed.

"I don't know but he's been like that for two days already, something must be up." Sepiroth sighed angrily. "Maybe you should put him on immune system boost pills."

"Come on, we'd better leave." Vegeta stood up. "We'll watch him in shifts."

"Hey, you coming?" Trunks poked his head back in, Squall looked over at him and Trunks could tell something still wasn't quite right with him. "Come on, you'd better just leave him alone and let him rest up." Trunks left again and this time so did Squall.

As time passed, everyone grew eager for their turn to begin so they could be with Joey. They were all really worried. Each shift would be two hours and each person would have one shift, all in all the shifts equaled a full twelve hours. Puar had taken the first shift.

"Oh Joey, in yet another test." Puar sighed as he watched Joey sleeping peacefully. "You look so calm and quiet but yet there's something wrong with you only we don't know what is." Puar looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes. "I remember all the time we spent together in the desert. You were so focused on your dad's solo training idea, you had no idea that he was gone and I was the only one you'd ever really had." He flashed back to one memory of Joey as a young boy, training at his home in the diablo desert.

Joey was very young, only a few years old, when Yamcha had been killed by Napa during the Saiyan invasion, Bulma had just left Yamcha and Joey at that time. He spent a few years training by himself and only Puar kept him company. At this time, Bulma was with Krillin and Gohan on Namek as Goku fought with Frieza and the Ginyu Force. Since the beginning, Yamcha had wanted Joey to grow up and be a strong fighter, so before he'd left to go protect the earth, he'd instructed Joey to do his solo training…

"Wow Joey, you're getting a lot faster." Puar smiled as he watched Joey punch the air.

"Thanks Puar." Joey smiled, about Gohan's age when Piccolo trained him. Joey crouched down and jumped up. "Hiya!" He did a spinning heel kick in the air, landing on his feet.

"That's amazing!" Puar cheered as Joey stood back up and bowed to Puar. "You're such a young warrior, you're just like your dad when I first met him."

"Hey Puar?" Joey asked as he sat down on a rock. "Tell me about my dad." Joey looked over to see Puar staring back. "I want to know what he was like."

"Well," Puar began. "He and I were bandits here in the desert, he led the Diablo Desert Gang. They've long since broken up because of your dad's departure. But we were cunning, vicious, nothing and nobody could stand in our way. We had respect. Then came along Goku, he was only about your age at that time but he gave Yamcha a run for his stolen money. That's also how he met your mom."

"My mom?" Joey stared blankly and Puar stopped himself and sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's okay." Joey gave a small smirk, petting him. "Thanks Puar." Puar smiled back.

Puar sighed as he opened his eyes and looked down at Joey. "I'm so sorry Joey."

"Hey Puar?" Puar turned at the voice, it was Trunks. "Your shifts over."

"Thanks. He's made no change, but nothing bad is something good." Puar floated out of the room and Trunks took his seat down where Puar had been sitting.

"Two hours." Trunks looked down at Joey. "Just you and me huh bud?" Trunks frowned as he stared at him. "Gees, what's with you man? I don't understand why. I don't get you sometimes, but I guess you're just you, we're different." He shook his head. "Boy, I remember the first time we met. Heh, what a shaky start to our friendship." Trunks recalled when Joey had knocked on their door and announced that Bulma was his mom. He thought to himself, "Wow, that sure was a shocker. Finding out that my mom had a kid with Yamcha before even meeting my dad." Trunks opened his eyes and smiled. "I guess you just never know who or what is out there. But I'm glad we met, I never knew what it was like to have a big brother, or rather stepbrother. Thanks Joey." The two hours passed quickly as Trunks reminisced about the good old times, finally Vegeta came in for his turn. Trunks snapped out of his thoughts. "Hmm? Oh hey dad. That time already?"

"Your two hours are up, it's time for my watch." Vegeta took his seat when Trunks left the room. He just stared around the room for about 15 minutes before looking down at Joey. He sighed angrily and groaned to himself, rolling his eyes before looking away. "Why do you have to be like this kid? This is not the boy I trained to be a warrior!" He spoke aloud now. "How many times have I told you to stop putting so much pressure on yourself? One minute you're egotistical and the next you attack yourself!" He growled. "Since the time we met I told you that you had potential and yet you still continued to stress out." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to calm down. "All that I've taught you, you'd better remember it. Look at yourself now, once again you've learned the hard way. You've made yourself so sick with all of your teenage human emotions that we don't even know what's wrong with you. Be a man, grow up! Be strong, I know you can be because you are." Vegeta stood up. "From day one I've taught you, have you learned nothing?" He growled, growing angry again. He wasn't mad at Joey, he was mad at himself. "Maybe it's time that we've all cut the leash and stopped treating you like a weak little child." He turned and began to walk out of the room before looking back. "You're on your own now kid." He walked out of the room, minus an hour and a half.

"Vegeta?" Bulma arrived and looked around. "Where is he, his shift isn't over." She folded her arms angrily. "Oh great, I bet he just strolled off early to take a short little breather." She growled and then looked over at Joey. She sighed and walked over, sitting down in the empty seat next to his bed. "Oh Joey. I can't help but think that this is all my fault. I only wish I could've been there for you, who knows what's wrong with you?" She was quiet for a moment and all of a sudden a small smile began to form. "Thinking about you makes me think back to when we first decided to get serious and have a child." She remembered back to when Yamcha and herself were still only going out. "So young…"

"I don't get it Yamcha." Bulma was sitting in her bedroom on the edge of the sofa.

"Don't get what?" Yamcha asked, turning away from the window.

"Goku is so happy now that he and Chi-Chi have had a kid." She looked over at Yamcha. "Do you think that if we had one our love life would become more, well, serious?"

"You… you wanna have a child?" Yamcha stuttered. "Are we even ready for that!"

"I think we are, just look at us and how close we are, and a son could only bring us closer together. We've been together for so long off and on, don't you think it's about time we matured, tied the knot and had a family of our own and strengthen our relationship? The whole reason we're off and on is we don't know our future together. People take kids seriously, they'll have to look at us different. I think we can do it, don't you?"

"Well I…." Yamcha gulped, he began to sweat nervously. "If you think so." He began to calm down and think about this. There was nothing going on in the world at that time, Raditz hadn't even come yet. Yamcha had a successful baseball career and Bulma was rich. This was the perfect time, if any, to have a baby. "Let's do it Bulma." She smiled.

That night, Yamcha lay in bed waiting for Bulma to come out of the bathroom. The moment seemed so magical as Bulma entered in a stride to music, wearing Yamcha's favorite silk outfit. He was in regular boxers. Bulma approached the bed but halted.

"Yamcha." She was beginning to have second thoughts. "Doing this would change the rest of our lives forever, I'm happy yet scared. Is there something wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with me, loving you." Yamcha sang quietly to her as the music played quietly in the background. Bulma smiled, growing more relaxed at Yamcha's tone. "I promise, you can trust me. I will always be there for you and our family…" She gently crawled into bed as the rest of their lives would be changed forever indeed. "You know I'll always love you, no matter what. This baby will be the perfect thing for us."

"I never realized that Yamcha and I would grow on and off as time would go on. We never even got married after having you. Sure the idea came up and we wanted you to have a good upbringing, but then Raditz came and our lives took another dramatic change, we started fighting and I left him again, then I went to Namek after your dad died and…" Bulma sighed and began to rethink her whole process. "Our lives really did change forever, and so did yours. It didn't bring us closer as it did make us drift apart. I never meant to drift away from you, Joey… I'm sorry we've made this so hard for you. It's really all my fault after all!" Bulma began to cry.

"Hey, hey." A soft voice cut her off and Bulma turned around to see Sepiroth. He walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "You gotta stop beating yourself up."

"The two hours are already up?" Bulma wiped her eyes and sniffed.

"Yeah." Sepiroth nodded. "Why don't you relax, you're making yourself too upset."

"Thanks Sepiroth." Bulma stood up and took a deep breath to calm down, slowly walking out of the room, then turned. "Just take good care of him and make sure he's alright."

"Don't worry, I will." Sepiroth smiled assuringly and Bulma left. Sepiroth sat down. "So, how you doing sport?" Joey gave the same answer he'd had to everyone else that day, nothing but silence. "Well, it looks like everyone's had a little stroll down memory lane with you hu kid? I can't say that I can. You and I barely got to know each other before this happened. We just talked and you seemed like an okay guy, but it doesn't look like you are right now. Hey, sorry about those stories, I hope you know that none of them are real. I, kinda like to get carried away sometimes you know? Heh." Sepiroth stopped and began to think. "This is just so wired, nothing's wrong with you at all, and yet..." He looked around at the different machines, everything was fine and normal. He shook his head and sighed, confused. "What's up with that, what's wrong with you?"

"Hey Sepiroth?" Sepiroth whirled around to see Squall.

"You?" Sepiroth glanced at the clock. "What are you doing here, it's only been half an hour! It's still my turn watching sleeping beauty."

"I'm not here to take over your shift brother, you're needed for a moment." Squall said. Sepiroth stood up and walked over, looking carefully at him.

"What's wrong, who wants to see me?"

"Trunks does, I don't know why, but I think it's about Joey and it's pretty important."

"Alright then." Sepiroth slowly walked out of the room. Squall watched him go and made sure he left before looking back at Joey.

"Good, it's about time he's gone." Squall smiled as he walked over. "We're alone. Now that nobody else is here, our master has already made plans for your preparations. And since everything's going accordingly, you and I will have no problem carrying out the rest of our mission, right?"

"Right." Joey smirked evilly as he awoke, his eyes were red before returning to normal.

"We have to go, your little episode has already put us way behind schedule." Squall opened a window. "Are we off then?" He turned around and Joey nodded. "Hm. Good." Squall nodded back and flew out the window. Joey ran over and flew off after him. About ten minutes later, Sepiroth was heard walking back down the hall and entered the room.

"Squall, I couldn't even find Trunks, and Vegeta said that nothing…." He stopped, noticing the room was empty. "Huh? What the…! Hey!" Sepiroth turned around, hearing footsteps running. It was Vegeta, he sensed something might be up and came over.

"What is it, what's going on?" He froze when he saw the empty room with the window open, the wind blew the curtains. Vegeta looked around. "Alright, where is he at!"

"What's the commotion, did something happen?" Trunks appeared and froze when he saw the empty bed. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know, but I think I know who does." Sepiroth growled angrily. "Squall." Something was going down, and he knew it. Whatever it was, it was gonna happen, soon. And it will happen next time, find out only on DragonBall Z!


End file.
